


Being There

by hopelesslywanderlust



Category: Agent Carter (TV), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Aunt Peggy Carter, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Howard Stark's Bad Parenting, Howard Stark's Good Parenting, Hurt Tony Stark, Hurt/Comfort, Kid Tony Stark, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, tony stark deserved better
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-08
Updated: 2017-09-08
Packaged: 2018-12-25 11:23:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12034860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hopelesslywanderlust/pseuds/hopelesslywanderlust
Summary: Tony Stark lost a lot on December 16th, 1991, but maybe he gained something as well...





	Being There

**Author's Note:**

> Hi!  
> This is my second fic for the MCU, and, personally, I feel it is eons better than the first one lol  
> This is just an idea I had after binge watching Agent Carter for the second time.  
> I hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading Xx

Agent Peggy Carter’s heels clacked loudly against marble floor as she entered the lavish New York apartment building. As she boarded the empty elevator to the Penthouse suite, the silence was almost unbearable. This was official business she thought she would never have to attend to when she founded S.H.I.E.L.D. Although, she wasn't sure if this was official S.H.I.E.L.D business, or if it was official godmother business, either was it was not going to be pretty.   
As Peggy stepped off the lift into the spacious Uptown apartment overlooking Central Park, for a moment she felt as though nothing had changed. The space itself had the same pristine, almost uninhabited look it had always possessed. Peggy had lost enough people to know that at first the shock of it all makes it seem as though nothing has happened. Having just received the news that morning, December 17th, the woman herself had not had time to let it sink in. The thought of it all was very surreal.  
Peggy followed the faint sound of the national news deeper into the apartment and down a hallway. Peering into every doorway, the agent stopped when she spied what, or rather who, she had been looking for. From her vantage point in the doorway of what she could assume was Howard’s study, it was like she was looking at a ghost. Sitting at his father’s desk, he could've been the man Peggy had met so many years prior during the War. The only difference being his eyes that were so like his mother’s, now red and puffy from crying. In so many ways he was the exact image of two of Peggy’s oldest and dearest friends, friends she would never see again.  
Turning the television off when he realized her presence, the young man turned his gaze on her, immediately breaking down. Peg quickly crossed the room to embrace him, “Oh, Anthony, darling. I'm so sorry. I wanted to be the one to tell you, but you know the news media, no decency.”  
“Aunt Peggy,” Tony gasped out between sobs, “why are they always leaving me?”  
Tears began to streak down the woman’s cheeks. Hearing the raw sadness in her godson’s voice broke the composure she had been trying so hard to maintain. Suddenly the boy in her arms was six years old again, holding onto his father’s suit sleeve and crying, begging him not to go on yet another arctic expedition. And then, he was twelve, sobbing in his mother’s arms the night before his plane left for boarding school. As these scenes played out in her mind as though she were reliving them, Peggy realized that for the better part of his childhood, Tony had been neglected by his revolving-door parents. Unintentionally, of course, she knew how much Maria and Howard loved their only son. Howard was constantly singing the praises of his child, and with Tony there was a lot to boast about. He had graduated high school at fourteen, MIT at seventeen, and he was now the sole heir to a multi-billion dollar technology company. He certainly was an accomplished young man, but Peggy was beginning to wonder if all that accomplishment was merely a desire to gain the attention and praise of his parents. Praise he would never receive now that they were gone.  
She figured he needed to hear it now more than ever, “Tony you are so loved. I know your parents were not around as much as you would have liked, but I want you to know they loved you dearly.” Pulling back from their embrace, she tousled his hair the way she would a small child and smiled despite herself, “They were also incredibly proud of you, as am I. Howard could go on and on about you, you know how he loved to brag. He was so proud of the man you've become.” Peggy produced a handkerchief from her pocket book, handing it to Tony. Whilst attempting to compose himself (Tony never wanted to appear weak in front of others, a trait likely inherited from his father) the boy said, “Thanks, Aunt Peggy.” And it genuinely sounded sincere, which took the older woman by surprise due in part to the fact that her godson was so often a rather arrogant youth. In that moment she realized that she too had taken part in his neglect, and it disgusted her because in spite of it all he had grown into a respectable young man.  
Anthony Stark deserved better. Peggy knew Howard had been there for she during some of the darkest moments of her life, the least she could do was repay the favor to his son, her godson. She promised herself she would try to be there for Tony more.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or kudos if you enjoyed, I love hearing from you all! Xx


End file.
